Actress tells Australian court she heard Rush’s career over

SYDNEY, Australia - Awardwinning actress Judy Davis told a court on Monday that she had heard comments in the film industry that Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush’s career was finished after he was accused of inappropriate behaviour toward a female co-star in a Sydney stage play.

Rush is suing the publisher of Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph newspaper and its journalist, Jonathon Moran, in the Federal Court for defamation over articles published in November that accused the 67-year-old Australian actor of behaving inappropriately toward actress Eryn Jean Norvill during the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of “King Lear” in 2015 and 2016.

Rush denies the claims against him and argues the articles portrayed him as a pervert and a sexual predator.

Davis - who has won three Emmys, two Golden Globes and has twice been nominated for Academy Awards - told the court Rush had a “very serious heavyweight reputation” as an actor before the articles. Davis said she had loved working with Rush, who had a “very fine reputation.”

Actress Robyn Nevin testified that she had appeared in the “King Lear” production and did not see anything to justify Norvill’s complaint.

Nevin said a tearful Norvill had told her during another Sydney Theatre Company production in 2016 that being back at the venue reminded her of the trouble she had had during “King Lear” months earlier.